Kung Fu Panda: The Haze
by Fox Mcloud SNR
Summary: Someone is striking at Po through his most vulnerable point. His heart. Now the panda will have to endure more then has ever had before when he enters The Haze
1. Chapter 1

**Kung Fu Panda: The Haze**

**Time for another story I think. This idea I had back when I first started along with A Better World but that idea seemed better to me which is why it was written...and its many sequels. But, I think the time has finally come to dust this off and give it the attention that I think it deserves, I hope you enjoy it and will either favorite/follow it, hopefully both.**

**Chapter 1 - The First Day**

Po groaned as he was suddenly pulled from his peaceful slumber, he yawned and stretched his arms out then looked around his room. He saw some of his dirty laundry across from him that desperately needed doing but he'd lost the enthusiasm to do so the previous night...as had the other person laying in bed with him. Po smiled to himself and looked to his left where the great Master Tigress slept, though she still looked tough after all these years both her and him had long since given up their titles and now lived in a small, peaceful village just outside of their original home 'The Valley of Peace'.

Po gently leaned across, grabbed Tigress's soft paw and kissed it gently, he looked at her peaceful features for a second longer before prioritizing the day's events. Po swung his legs over the side of the bed and made his way over to the calendar which was placed above the dresser that both him and Tigress shared, the date was July 20th and a small scribbled note that Tigress had written to Po stated that he had to get some items from the Valley and bring them back.

Po looked down and opened the dresser to retrieve a fresh pair of shorts as well as a light shirt, he'd spent his younger years without them but he recently found a sense of un-comfort at the thought of many people seeing his unclothed belly. He heard movement behind him, his old training kicked in as he heard Tigress trying to sneak up on him. "Good morning Tigress" Po said calmly.

He felt Tigress hug him from behind and purr into his shoulder, "That's disappointing, I was hoping to startle you, I guess you'll never forget that old training." Po turned around and wrapped his arms around her small but strong frame, "Never Tigress" he replied. He broke the contact and left the room to get something to eat, while he did that Tigress dressed herself.

Po walked into their small but cosy kitchen and grabbed some rice out of a cupboard and with his remaining hand opened another cupboard and picked a saucer up. He placed the saucer on the cooker and put the rice inside of it, he was just about to boil some water when he saw the clock on the wall. It was 8:30 and alarm bells went off in Po's head when he remembered one of the items he was meant to get today was apparently ready for him in the store.

It was a ring that he had had specially made for Tigress as a way to propose to her, they had been together for the past ten years but he wanted it to be official and for everyone to know that they were a true team. He was so deep in thought that he forgot Tigress's presence and jumped when she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw her standing there wearing her old red training vest, she hadn't worn it in a while and a wave of nostalgia washed over Po.

"Sorry Po, I didn't mean to scare you its just that you've been staring into space for the past five minutes and you have this creepy, blank stare which was starting to freak me out." Po chuckled, "Sorry, I just remembered something I have to do today and I think I'm slightly late for it". Tigress looked at the clock, "Late? It's early morning, what could you possibly be late for?" Po sighed internally when he couldn't' make up an occasion that he would be late for so he just shrugged and went back to making the rice.

Tigress sat down and watched him make the rice with a curious eye, what could Po possibly want to go into town for at that specific time? She didn't believe his excuse and she knew he didn't think this much about their usual trips into town. Po placed a bowl of rice in front of her and sat opposite her with his own, he smiled at her and started to quickly eat his food. Tigress's interest was piqued, "I'll come with you into town Po" she watched for his reaction, Po slowly put another mouthful in and looked up at her in surprised, he swallowed slowly and a flicked of worry flitted through his eyes.

"Ok...sure" he said, he smiled reassuringly again and went back to his food.

XXXXXXXX

When they finished they left the house and started the long walk down to their local town arm in arm, they walked in comfortable silence as Po tried to find a way to leave Tigress's side to get the ring and Tigress trying to think of a way to stay with him to find out what he was hiding.

As they got closer to the bottom they could slowly start to hear the increasing sounds of the village, because it was early many people were out trying to get their chores or duties done as quickly as possible so they could get home and spend time with their families. Po looked at Tigress, "You ready to go into the storm?" She nodded and smirked, "As long as you're there, always Dragon Warrior."

They set off and began getting the items that were on the list. It went as well as could be expected with the only highlight being when a kid asked Po to sign a action figure of himself, a strong surge of nostalgia was felt by Po as he looked upon his old, pudgy form and his cocky smirk plastered on his face.

They soon finished their task and Po's mind was still drawing a blank on how to ditch Tigress so he could get that darn ring, his chance came when another child walked up to the two of them and shyly asked Tigress to sign a small piece of parchment for her, Po slowly placed their bags on the ground and snaked off hoping that Tigress's skills were so rusty that she hadn't noticed him leave.

He rounded a corner and breathed deeply, he hated to be so secretive but he wanted this to be a surprise for her. He looked around the corner and saw he hadn't been followed, he then left his corner and walked quickly to the jewelry store. He opened the store door which set a small bell off to tell the owner that a customer had walked in.

The panicky panda made his way to the counter and an old male goat turned around to greet him, he adjusted his glasses so he could see who it was. "Ah Po, what can I do for you my dear boy?" he asked cheerfully, Po sucked air in through his teeth, "Hi Mr Lang, I need you to get me the ring I ordered for Tigress, today's the day!"

The goat adjusted his glasses again and gave a wide smile, "I am glad for you Po, I always thought that you two would become a couple ever since I watched you nearly fall on her back when you became our savior" Po chuckled as he remembered that day, while he reminisced Mr Lang reached under the counter and produced a small velvet box that had a neat black ribbon around the outside.

Po never got used to how good it looked...and this was just the outside! He took it off of the goat's hands and bowed in thanks, "Thank you sir! Now I can make this day perfect!" The goat nodded slowly, "I am always glad to help China's savior" Po pocketed the box and left the store quickly while waving back.

The panda breathed a sigh of relief as he left the store, he had managed to get the ring without Tigress finding out! Now he just had to get back and make up a convincing excuse to explain his absence. He took the ring out of his pocket again and started walking, he just couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with Tigress, he had never loved anyone like Tigress before and she was both his best friend and the light of his life.

He rounded a corner into a alley and bumped into someone, he gasped and nearly dropped the ring, "I'm so sorry I-" Po yelped when he looked into the fiery orbs of the object of his affection, she had her arms full of the groceries that he had left her with and upon seeing him she dropped them and placed her hands on her waist, along with her trademark scowl this proved why she was once so feared by China's criminals.

"Oh hey Po, where did you go?" She said with gritted teeth and scowl never leaving her face. Po subtly placed his ring hand behind his back and smiled nervously, "H-hey Tigress, how are you? Did you sign that paper for that kid?" She closed in and backed him into a wall, "I did Po, and after that I noticed that you had left me completely alone with all of the stuff we had bought!" Po felt incredibly guilty but he knew that she'd forgive him later, "Let me get one thing straight panda, I am not your pack mule! If you ever do that to me again then you will sleep in a room by yourself!"

Po sighed, "Yes Tigress, I'm sorry for ditching you, but believe me you'll understand why later." Tigress walked over to their stuff, picked it up and gave it all to Po, "All I know Po, is that it had better be worth that embarrassment." Po nodded which went unseen.

The walk back to the staircase was uncomfortable with Tigress irritated and Po guilty, they were about to walk up when they heard screaming coming from back within the town, they both whipped around instinctively and quickly sourced the noise. Po shot a look at Tigress nod she nodded back, no words were needed, they would never not help someone in need, Po put the bag down and then followed Tigress into the fray.

XXXXXX

As they got closer to the commotion Po felt a sense of dread which was not unlike the feelings he got before he faced both Tai Lung and Lord Shen during his career. A huge crowd was standing over something and Tigress and Po pushed to the front to see what it was, the sight made Po actually stop in shock. A young female antelope had been stabbed in the chest and someone who was presumably her husband was standing over her weeping heavily, always the professional Tigress reached down and grabbed the antelope's wrist checking for a pulse.

She sighed and shook her head at Po, it had been a long time since seeing similar scenes of violence for the panda and it took Tigress snapping her fingers in front of his eyes to get his focus back. "C'mon Po, we should get on this, standing here won't bring the scum who did this to justice!" They moved away from the scene and when they were along Po gently tugged on Tigress's arm to get her attention. Po bit his lip, "I don't know Tigress, we haven't done this in so long, maybe we should get Crane and the rest of his team to handle this one" Tigress growled and scowled, her old pride and stubbornness kicked in, "No, we can do this, I don't think that antelope will want to wait...I know I wouldn't if it was you" she added sadly, Po stroked her face, "OK, but no unnecessary risks and we take him down together, just in case alright?" Tigress nodded and the two of them set off to find the murderer.

XXXXX

It was just like the old days with Tigress taking point and Po covering her back, the only thing that was different was the lack of the other members of the Furious Five covering their other possible flanks. Po looked around cautiously through every alley they passed, he had a very bad feeling about this and he only wished that Tigress had listened to him when he'd suggested just getting Crane and his team to handle this one.

Said tiger stopped abruptly in front of him which caught Po off guard so he bumped into her, "Po pay attention!" She whispered angrily, the panda nodded. Tigress pointed at something in front of her, "See these tracks Po?" The panda peeked over her shoulder and nodded when he saw very faint paw prints embedded into the street. "They're recent, the killer moved through here in the last ten minutes, if we hurry then we can catch up to him."

She went to move but Po stopped her, "Just be careful, he may be planning something and just running after him blindly could be a problem." She threw his paw off of her shoulder fiercely, "What is the matter with you!? Someone's died and you're content with quietly following him just on the off chance he slips up and we run into him. No, we need to close in on him now so he doesn't do it again!"

Po's mouth opened a little bit in shock at her outburst, he went to retort but Tigress quickly bolted off before he could, the panda was left with his confused thoughts. _"Why is she acting so strangely? It's lie she's an entirely different person from a couple of hours ago, maybe she's right and I'm just getting soft...well softer then I was as the Dragon Warrior, we'll get this done and then I'll pop the question."_

He started a quick jog after Tigress, he only hoped he could find her after all she did have a considerable lead on him...and he was never the best at the tracking lessons that Shifu provided them with. He stopped dead again when a strong scent hit his nostrils, it had been a long time since Po had smelt the substance but he immediately recognized it as blood.

Panic shot through Po like a arrow through the heart, he changed from a jog to a sprint towards the source. _"No, she would never kill someone over anything, but...she did seem pretty angry and what she said earlier about it ever being me may have flipped a switch in her mind."_

Po found the source and backed against a corner ready to leap out and stop Tigress, the smell was making him ill and he felt lightheaded for some reason. He dived around the corner and his blood ran cold.

Tigess was lying on the ground lifeless with a gaping wound in her stomach. Po fell to his knees and felt the world crashing around him, he crawled over to her and cradled her body. Sobs soon racked the devastated panda's body and he desperately wished he had never came down to the village with her.

"Tigress, I-I'm so sorry, I just wanted to be with you forever, I love you so much and now I'm alone...W-what am I supposed to do!?" Po saw a white light engulf the nearby buildings and he pulled Tigress closer to him, "What is going on? LEAVE HER ALONE! HAVEN'T YOU TAKEN ENOUGH ALREADY!" Po thought he was losing his mind due to grief, the light came towards them and Po tried to crawl away with his beloved but it soon caught up with them.

It reached Po and he felt like he was being pulled apart from the inside, "No, what's going on!? SOMEBODY MAKE IT STOP! Somebody help me...Tigress." The panda disappeared entirely.

XXXXXXX

Po gasped and bolted upright as he was suddenly pulled from his nightmare, he looked around the room and realized that he'd just been having a bad dream, he lifted his arm up from the sheets and felt the thick layers of sweat he'd produced from his sleep.

He saw some of his dirty laundry across from him that desperately needed doing but he'd lost the enthusiasm to do so the previous night...as had the other person laying in bed with him. "Wait..." Po thought, "I'm having deja vu. This just happened to me but..." Po looked across from him and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar orange and black form sleeping next to him.

"_Thank god, if that was real I...No! I'll stop it this time, I'll leave Tigress here and get the ring myself_!"

Now the panda had a plan.

XXXXXXXX

**So I wonder what Po will do to stop this dreadful thing from happening, well I know but you'll just have to carry on if you want to know. I hope you liked this and if you did or didn't tell what you thought in the reviews section.**

**If you liked this then please check out my other stuff life 'Dragon Warrior Blues' and the previously mentioned 'A Better World', if you end up liking that and my style then could you consider checking out my Youtube channel where I make LP's and movie reviews. **

** channel/UCyOGGlO1Tuo8Od95KThn86w**


	2. Chapter 2

**Kung Fu Panda: The Haze**

**I'm glad you guys enjoyed the first chapter, it'll get more intense from here so let's not waste any more time and carry on!**

**Chapter 2 - The Second Day**

Po sat on the edge of the bed and shut his eyes tightly trying to remove the image of Tigress's corpse from his mind, ever since waking up from that awful nightmare an hour ago he hadn't been able to get to sleep again so he simply stayed awake and thought about what that dream could possibly mean.

_"Am I being told something by the gods? If so then I need to either leave before Tigress wakes up or just insist that she stay here, I'll get the ring and whatever else I got before then quickly come back up here...I also need to get Crane and the others here in case that murderer is real and not someone that I imagined"_

He looked out of a nearby window and watched the sun rise over the mountains. The view was one of the reasons that he had wanted to move here and whenever he was having a bad day or he found himself having to make a difficult decisions the view would always put him in a better frame of mind.

He was so taken with it that he didn't hear Tigress sneak up behind him, she leaped at him and tackled him to the ground. "Wow Po, you're getting really rusty at th-" Po cut her off by hugging her tightly and kissing her with as much love as he could muster "I thought I'd lost you Tigress, I love you so much!"

Tigress could sense that something was wrong with him but she didn't question it, "Calm down Po, we've only been asleep for a couple of hours, did you have a bad dream?" Po removed his face from her shoulder, "Y-yeah, you could say that."

She pulled away and looked into his eyes, "What was it about?" She asked calmly, she knew if something was actually bothering him that much then it must have been big. "You know you can always talk to me about anything right?" She added sweetly to push him into answering her.

Po seriously considered telling her for a second then dismissed it when flashes of all the un-comfortableness and potential for disturbing her flew into his mind. "There's...nothing to tell really" he lied. She raised an eyebrow and pointed towards the sheets on their bed, "Really? Because that's not nothing, look Po, something really bothered you and you need to tell me what it is so I can help you" She insisted.

"Just drop it" Po said quietly, Tigress shook her head. "No, you need t-". "I said drop it!" Po interrupted with a raised voice. When looking into her face he instantly felt guilty, her eyes held shock and then a small hurt at his anger towards her, he suspected she was more upset then she was letting on but years of blocking out emotions allowed her to turn them off like a tap when she needed to seem stoic.

Po however knew her too well, "I'm sorry Tigress. Just, leave it alone for the moment okay?" She nodded and walked past him. He sighed and ran a paw through his head-fur, as long as she stayed up here then that was all that mattered,he could worry about apologizing later but as long as he knew she would come to no harm when she was up here then he could go into the town with no fears.

He quickly walked into the kitchen and saw from Tigress's shadowed silhouette that her shoulder's were slumped and that she was also making tea, which made Po feel worse because she only ever drank the stuff when she was stressed. He slid the door over and walked up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, the feeling of his warm breath on the back of her neck momentarily made the tiger forget their previous encounter and relaxed her for a second.

He whispered into her ear, "I'm just going into town for a second to grab some things that we need ok? I'll be back in a minute and then we can talk about my nightmare, just...stay here OK?" He added nervously. He felt her ears prick up in curiosity...he only hoped that old saying had no sway here. "OK I guess, if it makes you feel more at ease then sure" she said hesitantly.

Po beamed at the back of her head, "Thank you" he let his arms relax and loosen his grip on her, they fell back their natural place beside him and then he made his way to their front door, "I'll be back in a minute" With that Po quickly ran down to the town.

Tigress watched from their window as her large beloved sprinted down the stairs, she only hoped he was more careful as the last time he had done that was during the winter time and falling down more then 500 stairs due to boyish excitement wasn't something to be forgotten anytime soon.

XXXXXXX

As Po crashed at the bottom of the stairs he saw stars in front of his eyes as his bruised ribs began to groan in protest, he had lost balance about half way down and the Winter-fest event had repeated itself...with less snow.

Shaking off any pain he felt Po immediately got up and tried to find the nearest Post Office, remembering one on the corner he went there first. He entered the shop setting off a small alarm bell before grabbing a piece of scroll and hurriedly writing a small note telling Crane to come to the village for a few days in order to help him with something.

He handed it to the owl behind the counter who removed her glasses to look at the note before nodding and placing it inside their out-going mail.

As he left the panda breathed a small sigh of relief, _"Now that that's done hopefully Crane and the others can get here before this murder ever happens, and if I just imagined this happening today then maybe telling them I just had a bad feeling will make me seem less crazy? I mean, Shifu will be mad for wasting time but at least then I'll know it isn't true."_

Po focused on the rest of the day's schedule, he walked quickly over to the jewelers so he could just get the ring and get back to Tigress. He soon reached the entrance and pushed the door open, hearing the ringing of the entrance bell did make Po focus on his reason for being there more...which in turn made him worry about how he was to pop the question to Tigress.

_"Man, I'm not usually this stressed!"_

The panicky panda made his way to the counter and an old male goat turned around to greet him, he adjusted his glasses so he could see who it was. "Ah Po, what can I do for you my dear boy?" he asked cheerfully, Po sucked air in through his teeth, "Hi Mr Lang, I need you to get me the ring I ordered for Tigress, today's the day!"

The goat adjusted his glasses again and gave a wide smile, "I am glad for you Po, I always thought that you two would become a couple ever since I watched you nearly fall on her back when you became our savior" Po chuckled as he remembered that day, while he reminisced Mr Lang reached under the counter and produced a small velvet box that had a neat black ribbon around the outside.

Po never got used to how good it looked...and this was just the outside! He took it off of the goat's hands and bowed in thanks, "Thank you sir! Now I can make this day perfect!" The goat nodded slowly, "I am always glad to help China's savior" Po pocketed the box and left the store quickly while waving back.

Leaving the store then made Po feel strange, _"That was exactly the same as before, right down to his words and the gaps in his sentences! I don't know what's going to happ-"_ A loud scream rippled through the street and made Po leap out of his already frazzled thoughts.

"_Its happening exactly the same way!_" Po thought worriedly. He weighed up his options then made his decision.

He wanted to make sure that Tigress was safe above everything else.

In his head he rationalized it poorly. _"I've done a lot for both China and the Valley, I deserve this one chance just to put my needs above everyone else's"._

He walked quickly towards the steps that lead to his house but on the way he passed the scene, and it was exactly the same as before, blood flowing through the tiled roads, the wailing of the widow and the stony, guilty silence of everyone else.

Po tried to move past it swiftly but to his dismay, "Hey look! The Dragon Warrior will give that guy some justice!" a random bystander shouted out. Po saw the widow walk up to him slowly and through teary eyes and a choked voice she murmured, "P-please Dragon Warrior, get the one who did this and make him suffer!"

Po blinked dumbly at her and abruptly turned around and walked up the steps. The crowd watched, stunned as their 'hero' walked meekly away from his duty. "You're no hero panda!" one shouted.

This soon provoked more reactions but Po ignored them and carried on walking, the decision he had just made would weigh on his mind for a long time but seeing Tigress and asking her the most important question in the world would solve this surely?

This being his motivation Po's journey did not take him too long. The sight of his house calmed his guilty spirit and settled his nerves slightly.

He pushed his door open and a strong scent hit his nostrils. Po frowned and sniffed quietly, his blood ran cold.

It was blood.

Po dropped his bags and sprinted inside scouring the rooms for the source, when he found it his spirit broke entirely.

Tigress was once again lying in her own blood, Po let out a sob and fell to his knees, _"Why is this happening? What have I done to deserve this! I made her stay here but she still died it doesn't make sense!"_

His agonizing thoughts were interrupted by a soft laughter coming from behind him, Po whirled around and snarled angrily. "Who are you!".

When he saw his heart almost leaped outside of his chest, it was a black tigress not unlike the one behind him but this one seemed...off. He felt evil from this one.

"You know who I am" it said in a quiet female voice. "I am known by many names, I am the World, I am God, and I am the Truth" Po frowned and pointed behind him "Did you do this?" He growled.

The figure giggled again, "I bet you wish you were asleep, but you're not dreaming here panda. This time it's the real thing".

Again light rose from the floor just like before, and just like before it burned Po from the inside out, his rage made him rise above it for a second. "I SWEAR I'LL FIND YOU!" He yelled into nothingness.

XXXXXX

Po woke up startled again, he looked around and found himself once again in his room, he confirmed it by looking to his left and to his relief seeing Tigress but with her blood on the inside. "It happened again, what the hell is going on?" he said timidly.

A wave of fear hit him, _"What if this isn't a dream and I'm being told how to save Tigress"_. He jumped out of bed and hurriedly put his clothes on without waking Tigress up.

He left his house and broke into a light jog, he stopped at the top of the steps and looked back at his house, "I will protect you I promise" he said.

This time Po would be ready.

**I was honestly a bit conflicted with a certain part of this chapter, Tigress's little part where she watches Po leave was going to end with a little knock on their door in order to foreshadow the ending but I thought it'd be more interesting if was a bit more unexpected.**

**Now if you're wondering why Po seems...out of character here then don't worry that will be explained...later.**

**If you're wondering why this story has shorter chapters then my usual output its because I wanted to try and make it feel more like my older stuff (A Better World and The Way Back specifically), also it lets me more easily structure the story.**


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